May 10, 2019

The cetacean sightings started right out of the gate this morning. Just as we left the jetties we had 3 inshore bottlenose dolphins guiding us west towards splashes in the distance. The splashes were coming from a large and spread out pod of common dolphins and pelicans as they dove for their breakfast. After a few turns around the feeding frenzy we continued out to see what else we could find. At about 6 miles out we spotted a large spout in the distance but couldn’t tell the species. All we knew is that it was big. Once it surfaced again we could tell it was not one but two blue whales! A cow/calf pair! This is the first cow/calf pair we’ve seen this year and more evidence that Southern California may be a breeding area for these mysterious animals. They spouted 4 times before taking a dive and as we waited for them to resurface a solo blue surfaced nearby and then a fin whale a little bit further. We soon realized that we were seeing more spouts in the distance in all directions! All in all we believe we actually had two cow/calf pairs of blue whales, a solo blue whale, at least 2 fin whales, and other spouts we never got to. Today was one of those amazing trips you can get this time of year with the two largest animals on Earth. It’s great time to come out. Summer season is upon us!